


Work Break

by sakav



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Found Family, Gen, If you look closely, Minor Jesper Fahey/Wylan Van Eck, crows dance party, just teenagers having fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-12 23:41:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28893816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sakav/pseuds/sakav
Summary: An overplayed, overhyped song comes on on the radio and the Crows take a well deserved break from their early morning scheming.Featuring dancing on tables, Nina Zenik's horrible singing voice, and some panicked pining.Set vaguely during Crooked Kingdom but there aren't any actual spoilers for it though. Slight spoilers for Six of Crows!
Relationships: Kaz Brekker/Inej Ghafa
Comments: 7
Kudos: 35





	Work Break

**Author's Note:**

> i have been in found family hell ever since finishing crooked kingdom. i just love these teenagers so much *clenches fist*
> 
> please listen to "Classic" by MKTO while reading (it's the song they're dancing to)!! enjoy! :D

It’s early morning, the final day of planning before the Crows set their plan into motion. They are gathered around the centre table, spread out on the different couches as Kaz lays out the final details of the plan. The sun is just rising, bright golden rays slanting through the window, a stark contrast to the dark plans, the dark city outside, the calm before the storm. A radio plays in the background, quiet enough that it doesn't disturb their discussion, but the perfect distraction for a restless Jesper, so that his mind doesn’t wander too far. Colm Fahey is away this morning, off on an errand with Specht. No one really knows if said errand is actually important or if Kaz just needed a diversion so that he could lay out the plan without listening ears, but it’s Kaz, so no one complains.

They’ve been up for two hours, running through the plan again and again, making sure there are no holes (there aren’t, there never are when it’s Kaz making the plans), making sure everyone knows their roles, the positions they’ll be in, the way it’ll all play out. Wylan has almost fallen back asleep, his head drooping towards Jesper’s shoulder before he jerks awake every few minutes. Kuwei _is_ asleep, on the other side of Wylan (who pointedly placed himself between Jesper and Kuwei), resting his head on the armrest and not even trying to look as if he’s awake. Nina and Matthias are nestled in the loveseat, Nina’s legs thrown over Matthias’s lap, with Matthias’s hand firmly held in hers. Kaz sits on an armchair at the head of the table, his bad leg propped up on said table, while Inej perches on the armrest of his chair (Kaz stiffened when she first sat down so close –– not touching, of course –– but he said nothing. So Inej said nothing, and neither did anyone else, though both Nina and Jesper shot them looks with raised eyebrows) (Kaz was tempted to flip them both off with a good old middle finger but he refrained and pointedly ignored them for five minutes straight).

Kaz is just about to begin his third run through of the plan when a song begins playing on the radio. It’s quiet at first, a tinny sound that only an old, beat up radio could make, but slowly gets louder as Jesper fiddles with the sound knobs. A groan can be heard from the loveseat –– Matthias recognises the song –– how could he not? It’s only been playing on repeat on every radio station _all_ summer. Jesper shoots a conspiratorial smile at Nina –– one that Kaz easily catches and tries, in vain, to intercept.

“No,” he says.

“Oh come on, Kaz, we’ve been up for hours. We _need_ a break.” Nina waves him off, just as Jesper jumps up and begins the first verse.

_“Ooh girl you shinin’, like a Fifth Avenue diamond!”_

Jesper points to Nina, moving his hands wildly to the lyrics as if he were singing at her. Kaz only casts a disapproved glare, but doesn't complain more. Like any good strategist, he knows when to pick and choose his fights, and secretly he, too, is in need of a good break (though he would _never_ admit it, of course) (maybe he would… to Inej) (but Inej _only_ ).

Kuwei’s startled yelp as he’s woken up is unnoticed (by all except Kaz and Inej, of course) as Nina jumps up and joins Jesper in the second verse, her singing voice horrible as always but laughing all the same.

By the second verse, both Inej and Wylan have joined in, jumping and dancing and singing around the table. The former’s participation results in two surprises for Kaz. Inej rises so suddenly from her perch at his armrest that there was no way for either of them to stop her clothed thigh from brushing against his shirtsleeve. This is the first surprise: the fact that all he did, all he felt compelled to do, when this sliver of contact occurred in less than a split of a second, was a slight jump. Nothing else, nothing more, there is no bile rising in his throat, no urge to rip off his skin, nothing. He only starts slightly, and Inej shoots a sharp look at him, in apology, but he only relaxes his eyes in reassurance. She didn’t cause him any discomfort. She smiles then, she gives him a huge smile and he thinks his heart might have stopped, but she goes to join the dancing group at Nina’s insistence and the moment is over. Kaz’s heartbeat returns to normal.

The second surprise: Inej’s voice is beautiful. Kaz always knew she had musical talent –– as an acrobat, it was almost a given –– but her voice is captivating. It’s not perfect, she is no professional singer, and her voice has a hollow undertone, but it is enchanting. Kaz almost forgets to keep a straight face, his glare all but shriveled up and dissipated as soon as Inej joined the song, and if Nina catches his lips quirking up, she doesn't say a thing.

The next few verses see Nina dragging Matthias into the fray (who, after a lot of huffing and puffing, finally relaxes and belts out an entire verse in his deep but surprisingly loud voice) and Kuwei hesitantly joining in, missing a few words here and there but delivering an amazing dance accompaniment to Matthias’s verse. Kaz’s good foot taps up and down to the beat and Inej keeps shooting _that_ smile at him. Jesper and Wylan hold hands, but they don't kiss. Everyone knows they want to kiss.

The rap verse of the song nears and everyone pauses as Kaz swiftly stands up and climbs onto the table. Kuwei cringes away, expecting Kaz to start shouting some sense into them. You can’t exactly blame him, then, when, instead of letting loose a string of expletives, Kaz opens his mouth and delivers the most flawless rendition of the rap verse that any of the Crows have seen –– except for the actual singers, of course, but the Crows have never _seen_ the singers, so that doesn’t count. And Kaz, being the perfectionist he is, doesn't just follow the beat ruthlessly, he delivers a _performance_ , the rap, the facial expressions, the hand gestures. Everything.

Jesper is the first to recover, whooping and shouting and joining Kaz onto the table, taking a pencil into his hands and actually doing a pretty good rendition of the adlibs into it. He doesn’t throw his arm over Kaz’s shoulder, thankfully, though Kaz sees him consider it for a second. The rest of the Crows shake off their surprise and join them in finishing off the rest of the song.

As the song fades off into an advertisement for a furniture store, the Crows slump for a minute, catching their breath after their surprisingly exertive work break. Wylan and Kuwei all but fall back into the couch. Kaz gets off the table with as much dignity as a teenager who just shed his i-don't-care-about-anything-but-myself-and-money act can muster.

“Right,” Kaz claps his hands together as he settles back into his armchair, Inej shifting back into her perch (she doesn’t touch him this time, even through their clothes) (he doesn’t know how he feels about the slight sinking of his heart).

The Crows groan, knowing what’s to come.

“Back to work.”


End file.
